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This boneless stuffed turkey breast recipe brings rich seasonal flavors together in a beautifully presented dish. Rolled around a savory-sweet apple and cranberry stuffing and served with apple cider gravy, it’s an impressive choice for smaller holiday gatherings or a special family dinner.
Notes From the MGC Kitchen
If you’ve never made a stuffed boneless turkey breast, it’s time to try it. Boneless turkey breasts are tender and juicy, and once you’ve done the initial prep, considerably less trouble for the cook! Here’s why we love them:
- FASTER, EVEN COOKING: Boneless turkey breasts cook relatively quickly and much more evenly than a whole bird – no worries about one part being overcooked while another is underdone.
- LESS ROOM IN THE OVEN: A boneless breast will take up far less oven space, leaving room for side dishes and making planning your meal easier and more efficient.
- EASY TO CARVE: Boneless turkey breasts are easy to carve and make a beautiful presentation on your table.
Key Ingredients
This is an overview of the key ingredients for this recipe. Please see the printable recipe card below for the complete listing, including quantities.
- BONELESS TURKEY BREAST: The easiest thing to do is to have your butcher remove the bones from a fresh turkey breast for you, leaving the skin on, but if that’s not an option, no worries, it’s not that hard to do yourself, and you can make stock from the bones.
- BREAD: We recommend sourdough bread for this recipe, but French or Italian will also work. Whatever bread you choose, you’ll want to remove the crust for this stuffing recipe.
- APPLE: Granny Smith apples are our choice for this stuffing because they have a sweet-tart flavor that complements the dried cranberries and a firmness that adds textureg.
- DRIED CRANBERRIES: We generally keep the low-sugar variety of dried cranberries in our pantry. They have about 50% less sugar than regular “craisins,” and they are perfect for this recipe.
- APPLE CIDER: Apple cider is used to moisten the stuffing and as the base for our cider gravy. Look for cider that is dark golden to brown in color as this is an indicator of robust flavor. Light-colored cider is usually made from early-harvest apples and tends to be sweeter and milder in flavor.
- SHALLOTS: Shallots have a mild sweetness and subtle onion and garlic flavor. They’re used in the stuffing and the cider gravy.
- FRESH HERBS: You’ll need both fresh rosemary and fresh sage for this recipe. The rosemary pairs with apples and cranberries in the stuffing, and the sage combines with the cider in the gravy. We don’t recommend substituting dried herbs in this dish.
How To Make A Stuffed, Boneless Turkey Breast
This is an overview of how this recipe is prepared. Please see the printable recipe card below for detailed step-by-step instructions.
PREPARE THE STUFFING: Preheat the oven and arrange the bread cubes on a large baking sheet. Place them in the oven until they’re dry and crisp but not browned, then transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Place the apple cider in a small, microwave-safe bowl and heat on High for 1 minute. Stir in the dried cranberries and set them aside to plump and soften.
Heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until melted. Add the shallot and sauté until softened, then add the celery, apple and rosemary and continue cooking until the apple is crisp-tender. Season lightly with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Using your hands, gently crush the bread cubes into smaller pieces (don’t worry if some of the cubes crumble into fine crumbs).
Add the celery and apple mixture to the bread, then add the dried cranberries along with the cider and stir to combine. Add the egg and chicken broth and combine thoroughly. The stuffing should be moist but not soggy. If you feel it’s still a bit dry, add a little more chicken broth.
PREPARE THE TURKEY: Increase the oven temperature to 375°F and position a rack inside a roasting pan. Lay the boneless turkey breast on a flat surface, skin side down. If the breast still has the tenderloins attached, remove them and reserve them for another use. Cover the meat with two thicknesses of plastic wrap and gently pound the thickest portions with the flat side of a meat mallet until the breast is roughly the same thickness overall.
Season the turkey liberally with salt and pepper and spread the stuffing over the breast to within 3/4 inch of the edge all the way around. Starting with the short side opposite the neck, roll the breast as tightly as you can without pushing too much stuffing out of the ends. Push any stuffing that does fall out back inside as best you can and secure the roll with kitchen twine.
Set the turkey breast, seam side down on the roasting rack, brush with melted butter, season with salt and pepper and add water to the bottom of the roasting pan. Roast the boneless turkey breast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast registers 155°F, 50 to 70 minutes. You may want to rotate the pan in the oven about halfway through the cooking time to ensure even browning. Once the turkey is done, transfer to a carving board and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving (it will come up to temperature as it rests).
PREPARE THE GRAVY: While the turkey breast roasts, make the apple cider gravy. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the sage and season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in all but 1/4 cup of the cider and bring the mixture to a rapid simmer. Combine the remaining with cornstarch, whisking until smooth. Add the slurry to the simmering cider and cook, whisking continually, until thickened to a gravy consistency, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a serving dish and cover to keep warm until ready to serve.
TO SERVE: Once the roast has rested, remove the ties and carve it into 1/2-inch slices. Arrange on a platter and drizzle with the Cider-Sage sauce. Pass the remaining sauce at the table.
Stuffed Boneless Turkey Breast With Apple Cider Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 whole turkey breast, 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 lbs, bones removed, skin on (see notes)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
For the Apple-Cranberry Stuffing:
- 6 cups bread cubes, 3/4-inch, crusts removed
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 shallot, minced (about 1-1/2 tablespoons)
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed
For the Cider-Sage Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 shallot, minced (about 1-1/2 tablespoons)
- 6 fresh sage leaves, stems removed, minced
- 2 cups apple cider, divided
- 1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the stuffing:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the bread cubes on a large baking sheet and place them in the oven until they are dry and crisp but not browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- Place the apple cider in a small, microwave-safe bowl and heat on High for 1 minute. Stir in the dried cranberries and set them aside to plump and soften.
- Heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until melted. Add the shallot and sauté until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the celery, apple and rosemary and continue cooking until the apple is crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat.
- Using your hands, gently crush the bread cubes into smaller pieces (don't worry if some of the cubes crumble into fine crumbs).
- Using a spatula to be sure you get all the melted butter from the bottom of the pan, add the celery and apple mixture to the bread, then add the dried cranberries along with the cider and stir to combine.
- Add the egg and chicken broth and combine thoroughly. The stuffing should be moist but not soggy. If you feel it's still a bit dry, add a little more chicken broth.
Prepare the turkey:
- Increase the oven temperature to 375°F and position a rack inside a roasting pan.
- Lay the boneless turkey breast on a flat surface, skin side down. If the breast still has the tenderloins attached, remove them and reserve for another use.
- Cover the meat with two thickness of plastic wrap and gently pound the thickest portions with the flat side of a meat mallet until the breast is roughly the same thickness overall. Our boneless turkey breast ranged in thickness from 1-1/4 to 2-3/4 inches. After pounding we ended up with an average overall thickness of about 1-1/4 inches.
- Season the turkey liberally with salt and pepper and spread the stuffing over the breast to within 3/4 inch of the edge all the way around.
- Starting with the short side opposite the neck, roll the breast as tightly as you can without pushing too much stuffing out of the ends. Push any stuffing that does fall out back inside as best you can.
- Run a length of kitchen twine around the turkey breast lengthwise, tucking in the ends before tying. Tie crosswise lengths of twine around the roll at 2 to 2-1/2-inch intervals.
- Set the turkey breast, seam side down on the roasting rack, brush with melted butter, season with salt and pepper and add 3/4 inch of water to the bottom of the roasting pan.
- Roast the boneless turkey breast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast registers 155°F, 50 to 70 minutes. You may want to rotate the pan in the oven about halfway through the cooking time to ensure even browning. Once the turkey is done, transfer to a carving board and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving (it will come up to temperature as it rests).
Prepare the gravy:
- While the turkey breast roasts, make the apple cider gravy. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the sage and season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in all but 1/4 cup of the cider and bring the mixture to a rapid simmer.
- Combine the cornstarch with the remaining 1/4 cup of cider, whisking until smooth. Add the cornstarch slurry to the simmering cider and cook, whisking continually, until thickened to a gravy consistency, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a serving dish and cover to keep warm until ready to serve.
To serve:
- Once the roast has rested, remove the ties and carve it into 1/2-inch slices. Arrange on a platter and drizzle with the Cider-Sage sauce. Pass the remaining sauce at the table.
Notes
ABOUT THE TURKEY BREAST
The whole turkey breast we used for this recipe was about 6-1/2 lbs with the bone in. Once we’d removed the bones and tenderloins, we had a boneless breast that weighed about 4-3/4 lbs. If you don’t have a butcher that will debone a whole turkey breast for you, it’s not that hard to do yourself. To ensure that your roast is moist and tender, it’s very important to leave the skin on, even the flap of excess skin at the neck. You can trim away some of the fatty thickness though.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
